Wednesday, September 29, 2010

My outfit for the week is a bit of a special one. This was the outfit I wore to meet my 'twin' at the airport on Sunday. I'll go into more detail about that in the next post, but it's safe to say I put a fair bit of effort into trying to look awesome. It's really hard to try and find an outfit that sums up who you are as a person!
This is what I came up with.
The brooch is a favourite of mine. It's by Dear Colleen, I bought it at Craft2.0 in June. I've only worn it a handful of times, because it gets very mixed responses (most people don't 'get' it...) and I can't often be bothered with the questions, but I absolutely love it. I would buy another with a different slogan but the black just goes so well with everything.
The striped top was thrifted, the skirt was gifted and the shoes are from the big red shed.

Also, promised Abraham I would do a Wardrobe Wednesday for him sometime. So, this week, you get two outfits from me. This is an outfit shot of me, Amy and Abraham on Monday.

Me - Dress from Op shop in Te Puke, brooch by my friend Helen Stripy socks, sunnies from the Sallies and flats from the Warehouse.
Abraham - 'Gaywyre' (a band) t-shirt, brown jeans from the Sallies and Bata bullets that were my Grandpas.
Amy - Skirt altered from a dress, flats from the Warehouse, white cardi, sunnies and red beads thrifted in Nelson and a black singlet from somewhere. I hope I got that right.

If you'd like to play along with WW: take a photo, blog it, and pop over to Clare's place and add a link. Would be lovely to have you.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

It's that time of the week again! Man, time seems to fly at the moment. I plan a million blog posts in my head but the only one I seem to manage regularly at the moment is this one. I figure this is the most important.

Clare and I, when this whole this started about a month ago, thought starting Wardrobe Wednesday would be a great idea to get everyone inspired, and enthused, enough to dress 'nice' at least one day a week. We hoped that it would be a great excuse to get out of our 'Mum' clothes (you know, or pyjamas as the case may be some days..) and put some effort in, even just for one day.
It's, mostly, working for me! How's it working out for you guys?
Today's outfit is still pretty casual but I think the necklace and the skirt print save it from being too boring.
The thermal and singlet are from Glassons, the tights from Farmers and the flats from the Warehouse. Despite the stink quality sometimes, I just can't afford to get my 'staples' from other places.
The necklace was given to me, along with about 6 others, by a friend of my Mum. She used to wear them in the 80's and thought I might like to take them apart and re-use the beads. My response was along the lines of "Are you kidding?!" and I happily gave them a home with my other jewels.
The skirt was a Salvation Army find. It was a bit longer than this and a little more billowy at the top (it was wider at the top than the bottom? Strange.) so I fixed that up and voila! Cute.
I've made a few of these elastic waist skirts lately, inspired by Melissa's, and while they're not super flattering on my, erm, ample figure, they sure are comfy! Will try to take some photos for a post later in the week.

If you're keen to play along with our little Wardrobe game, pop over to Clare's place and post your link in the comments. We'd love to have you.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

.. Is finished!
I started this quilt in my last few months of being pregnant with Otto. One of those crazy pregnant ideas, I guess. I had run out of things to clean or organise, and it actually worked out quite well with Otto being so overdue.
I picked up a single vintage yo-yo quilt a few years again in an antique store and thought 'Hey, I've got some time up my sleeve. I'll make a double!'. Obviously, I had NO idea quite how much time/fabric/effort that would entail. Turns out even cutting out that many little circles is enough of a project.
I ended up making this one only slightly bigger than the single.
I worked out that, for the double, I would need 997 (I think) of these little things and, in the end, I gave up at around 760. Then I realised I still need to sew them all together.. oh geez!
It has sat on the window seat, taunting me, for over a year now. I've gone through little bursts of sewing a few rows but never very long stints. Handsewing is my worst nightmare. Why oh why did I think this was a good project for me?

But it is complete. And I'm fairly happy with it, and with myself.
It is safe to say, though, that I won't make another yo-yo for quite sometime.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

This was me. On Monday. After 'bootcamp'. Casual as.
Same top as the other week - Nes clothing
Skirt- maxi from the Sallies, altered by moi.
Shoes- The Warehouse
Brooch- me.

Today? Today is a bit of a write-off. I was up multiple times in the night and am yet to manage to have a shower (Otto is happy to play while I use the net but will NOT allow me anywhere near the bathroom without tears..) and getting dressed is looking to be sometime around midday.. ahh the joys.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

The weather this week has been pretty dismal. I know, I shouldn't really complain. Afterall, we're not having ground shaking earthquakes.. a bit of rain and a few dark clouds is nothing much to moan about!
But it has meant a quiet, home-based sort of a week for us. Lots of book reading, toy-playing, and general mucking around.

The overall mood of the week hasn't been helped much by me having a very sore arm.
On Monday, I went and got the Jadelle implant (contraceptive implant) put in my arm. I knew it was going to be a bit painful, it is an incision afterall, but I didn't realise how tiring the whole thing would be.
It's feeling pretty okay now, the bruising is healing up and it only hurts when I accidentally knock it. (I put photos on Flickr off the healing process- might not be too 'attractive' but thought it might be informative.)
I've had mixed reactions from the people I've told about it. Mostly intrigue from people who've never heard of it, a few squirms from people who don't like thought of it, and the odd person who thinks the whole thing is just plain wrong.
I tend to lean towards the squirm-ish side, but unfortunately the meds I'm on for my epilepsy interact with just about everything else (and this, but to a lesser extent) so I wasn't left with many other options. Does anyone else have one?

Luckily, because I'm a material girl (living in a material world), a few of my days were brightened by some new additions to the house.
Aesop has been doing a bit of art at school lately and I'm so stoked. He's not big on drawing or painting so I'm well impressed that he's been bringing home some creations for me. This monster is one of my favourites so far.
The doilies were an early birthday present from my dear, dear friend Rachel. They were made by the grandmother of a friend of hers, in the 1950's and are absolutely lovely. I'm going to have to think of something really special to do with them.
The zips and thread were a colourful haul from the Sallies. I rarely find decent amounts of thread, and have never found invisible zippers so I was really happy to bring these home with me! Retail therapy maybe not be an 'official' cure for feeling stink, but it sure seems to help!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Nothing too exciting today, it's not an exciting sort of a day.
This dress is one of my all time favourites. It's quirky enough to be fun but simple enough that it can be dressed up or down (it is black.. not sure what is going on the with the lighting in my photos.) It's not the most flattering piece that I own but it is perfect for 'hiding' under on body conscious days. I wore it a lot in early pregnancy, until it was too snug in the, erm, boobs.
But you know the very bestest thing about this dress? It was $25! I found it in one of those cheap and nasty stores that sell Asian rip-offs of labelled clothing and horrendously tacky faux-mink blankets. You know the ones, aye? Aesop likes to look at the toys and one day I happened to spot this. Stoked!
(Random sidenote: The shop like this in Whakatane is called 'Jingle Bells'. It has a sign in the window that says 'Smile you are in the camera'. It makes me smile every single time.)
The tights are boring old Farmers ones, the striped top is the very same one from last week (fits like a glove, I would wear it most days if I could) and the brooch is one I made.
The shoes are falling apart. In fact, all of my shoes seem to be falling apart at the moment. I guess that is the joy of only being able to buy $20 or $30 shoes from Number 1 Shoe Warehouse, they really only last me around a month or two.
One of these days I'll fit some decent shoes that I love ( and that actually fit!) but at least Summer is on its way.. jandals ahoy!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Since I seem to rarely make my way here, I thought I would show you pictures of a few little things I've made for Otto recently.

This jumper, that I made a few weeks ago, used to be a women's vest and jersey. I managed to whip it up one day while Otto was having his nap, and am quite pleased with how it turned out. (The few I tried before this were disasters which is why I sound surprised!)
After I'd sewn the wee top I felt like it was missing something. But luckily I found the perfect addition- a 'Ben10' alien from one of Aesop''s drawings. Aesop was well stoked and Otto seemed to think it was okay too.

Otto's 'pants' drawer, at the moment, mostly consists of 'Tiny Happy' pants (that Melissa kindly made for Aesop when he was little) and Mama made wool-sleeve-pants. There are a few other things in there but they never seem to actually get worn. Between the cuteness of the wee elastic waist, big-bummed, big pocket pants and the practicality of the sleeve pants, there's very little need for anything else. Unfortunately, Melissa doesn't make kiddies pants anymore. So I've begun the process to figure out how to make excellent boy pants myself. These two are the first attempts and I'm pretty happy with them, loving the fold down cuffs on the owl ones... still got a bit of tweaking to go though.
(On a side note, my friend Karina just opened her Felt store. She definitely doesn't need any tweaking to her pants pattern - they look amaaazing! )

Lastly, a good old t-shirt pattern. I've given up trying to use commercial patterns for the kids t-shirts, they never seem to look quite right. So, instead, I've gone the less-ethical-much-easier route of buying a t-shirt that fits well and cutting it up to trace round. I'm more than happy with the result and will be doing the same with a tee for Aesop.
Now to make a pattern for the '90 minute shirt', buy the 'Sandbox' pattern for Aesop's pants then our Summer styles will be set and it'll be time to start sewing!

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday this year, a little strange but it worked well for us.
It was a gloriously sunny day and we were able to fulfil Abraham's plan of spending pretty much the entire day outside. Lovely.
The boys played ball games, strummed at their guitars and read books out on the lawn, Otto practised his standing up and pushing around his little trolley and, after a few jobs in town, prepared a delicious Father's day lunch for us to eat al fresco.
It was so nice to all hang out and to have a whole day of fresh air. It's amazing how much brighter things seem after a few hours in the back yard!

As his present, for being the best Dad/ husband in the entire world, Abraham received a portrait of the boys. It was done by the ever-lovely-and-very-talented Stella from Frank & Dean Co. Ltd. and is one of the most wonderful things I have ever laid eyes on. Not only does it look EXACTLY like the picture, but it is also so meticulously drawn, ever little pencil mark is in the right place and done so lovingly! Incredible!
And her pricing is very reasonable (too reasonable maybe?) so I whole-heartedly recommend that you had over to the felt shop and snap up a custom portrait of your loved ones too. We all love ours and you will love love love yours, too.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I completely forgot about Wardrobe Wednesday again this week. Luckily I remembered this morning!
What I didn't forget was that it is is the first day of Spring, and I thought I should dress accordingly.
I'm wearing the ever-cheerful yellow sneakers I got at The Warehouse, black tights from good 'ole Farmers, a VERY bright wrap around dress from Trademe seller 'Vintage Kitty' and a stripy top from The Sallies. I decided this outfit didn't need any accessorising, it is kinda full-on as is!

I'm also too bloomin' tired and sore to think about accessories. Today is day 4 of the 10 week weight-loss challenge that I'm doing with my Mum and Dad.
After having such a 'blue' Winter, I really feel like I need to do something to get me feeling good about myself again and, unfortunately, losing weight will play a big part in that. I'd love to say that I'm a-okay with my flab (the fat acceptance movement is one of those things I really want to believe in but just can't get there..) but ever since the 'O' word found me again (no, not the good one.. obesity!) I've been feeling pretty stink.
I'm okay with being the larger sister, the larger one in my circle of friends etc, but I have a closet choc-a-block full of vintage amazing-ness and only a very small slither of it fits me right now. Hence, weightloss is back on my agenda.
Although, after three walk/runs and a weights/boxing session with my Dad last night I'm feeling like this is going to be the longest 10 weeks of my life. Let's see if I can keep it up.